Cigar City Invasion Pale Ale

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Can courtesy of markwise, thanks buddy. This is cool. I like the tribute to Gasparilla here and then by extension Jose Gaspar and by further extension Ybor’s Gaspar Porter. A few of us used to consider this the best bottled beer made in Florida during weekly tastings around ‘07/’08. For me this beer is a tribute to Gaspar’s Porter as well as the Tampa area Gasparilla atmosphere. To good times and a Porter that has always been mediocre at best. 12oz can pours with a murky deep gold body that has copper hues and supports a dirty white head that leaves behind a little bit of sheet lacing. The aroma offers up citrus, mango, pineapple and peach. Nice. The taste begins with fairly rich and yes ’juicy’ hoppy goodness from malt sweetened grapefruit to tiny chunks of mango and then to pineapple and peach (just like in the nose). It does have a pretty classic Pale Ale malt profile and I even get a Jai Alai sort of feel here. I have had some really good Pales lately and this one is right there with them.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

December 2016: Shared 355 ml can at local tasting. Golden colour, white head. Strong aroma of zesty and citrussy American hops. Hoppy flavour, citrussy and enjoyable.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

12 oz can, canned on 4/28/17. Pours slightly hazy yellow gold with a big rocky bubbly white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is subdued - biscuity malt with some fruity floral hops.

The flavor is sweet bready malt with fruit and a good amount of slightly harsh bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, a nice hoppy pale.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pours clear golden with a thick and persistent eggshell head. Aroma is quite hoppy and resiny, rather like an IPA, with malty and citrus undertones. Resiny hops dominate the flavor, while grapefruit, orange, and shy malty tones provide backup. Texture is about average, but it goes down well. Let this one invade your mouth and tummy.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 6

Well this was a let down. I tried this beer because I love this brewers jai Ali, but the store was out. Pours cloudy gold with a thick head. Smells of urine and hops. Taste is medicinal. I detect acetone and windex notes. More urine on the finish. I get it. Its suposed to be fruit and malt but all i get is muddled. Muddled.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

These new Cigar City beers are invading the shelves with fancy labels....stirring up demand while keeping supply levels lower...so that they can maintain their price and image. But in the end, these new "fancy" beers are pretty much average for their styles now that the industry is exploding with competition. The consensus that I along with some others locally that I speak to is, they are getting too big too fast and starting to sacrifice quality while increasing capacity. Ok, on to the actual review on this beer. Kind of weak for a pale ale. Like a hoppier version of their Helles Lager. Tropical fruity flavors with a smoother feel, and it's refreshing for the summer... or change of pace between IPAs and dark beers. Besides this not much to report here and moving on.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

A bright sunshine in color with a two finger frothy textured whute head. There's some hang time and a moderate ringlet left behind. The nose is light, cutrusy. The tasting light malt and bolder semi sweet tropical citrus. It is light, crisp and effervescent.